With Black Friday and Cyber Monday just behind us, it tis the season for the electronic (e-blast) newsletter, and in the last week I unsubscribed from approximately 20 of them.
It’s not because I didn’t sign up for any of them, that I don’t want to shop from them, or even because they weren’t well designed, it’s because I got so many of them at the same time and they were the digital equivalent of weekly flyers.
I’m sorry to those fellow marketers and communicators out there who lost a subscriber, I get it.
But it got me thinking, are electronic newsletters dying a slow death or is a better way?
I went through my in-box and pulled up the emails that made the cut.
Here are a few of the qualities that my favourite email newsletters have in common
(and what we should all think about before hitting SEND):
- Be Informative
The best email marketing contains interesting news and information. By interesting I mean I learn something new, been inspired in some way, and maybe clicked on a link to find out more about a topic. Give your subscribers value in the form of a compelling customer story or personal anecdote. - They are beautiful & easy on the eyes
We’re all busy and have a lot of reading to do in a day, so include interesting photography, use lots of white space, and avoid long paragraphs. Surprise and delight in the middle of the day is a good thing, so be thoughtful about creating eye-catching content. - They arrive when I expect them to
There are a few daily and weekly newsletters that I read consistently, and they come to my inbox at the same time. There’s comfort in routine! If you don’t have enough engaging content, hold off on sending that email until you do. There’s nothing wrong with a monthly, bi-monthly, or seasonal newsletter. - Ask for feedback
Not sure what’s working and what’s not? Consider creating a short survey for your readers. You can include a few scaled questions (1-10) as well as three simple qualitative questions like:- What do you like about the newsletter?
- What don’t you like about the newsletter?
- What else would you like to see?
